Design

The Vought F4U Corsair was to meet a United States Navy specification for a carrier based fighter. It was designed by Rex Beisel / Rex B. Beisel / Tex B. Beisel in 1938. Vought designed a plane that would contain the most powerful engine at the time.

The F4U was the first United States Navy plane to go 400 mph / 644 kph.

Cockpit

During prototype development the internal configuration was altered which caused the cockpit to be moved back three feet. The cockpit was set behind the wing which caused problems with the poor view over the nose.

Fuselage

The nose of the Corsair had the self sealing fuel tank.

The F4U's fuselage was all metal with spot welding which gave a smooth skin.

Engine

The F4U's engine drove a 13' / 13' 3" / 4.04 m Hamilton Standard propeller. This propeller was one of the largest for a fighter at the time. This caused the design to have the inverted gull wings so that the propeller to clear the ground with the landing gear.

F4U-4 Engine

The F4U-4 had a 2,450 HP engine installed. It used water injection.

Prototype

The United States Navy ordered a prototype, XF4U-1, on June 30, 1938.

The XF4U-1 was first flown on May 29, 1940. During a flight on October 1, 1940, the prototype was the first American fighter to exceed 400 mph.

The F4U-4 prototype was converted from an F4U-1 and flew on April 19, 1944.

Production

An order for 584 / 585 F4U-1s was placed on June 30, 1941. 178 of these were delivered by the end of 1942.

In September 1942 trials were conducted on the USS Sangamon. It was decided that the F4U-1 wasn't suited for carrier operations and was to be issued to Marine Corps land based units.

The first F4U-1 production fighter flew on June 25, 1942.

The first F4U-4 production model flew on September 20, 1944. Deliveries began in late 1944 to the United States Navy.

Usage

Best Kill:Loss Ratio

The Corsair attained a 11:1 kill:loss ratio in the Pacific during World War II while only losing 169 planes of their own. 2,140 enemy aircraft were shot down by Corsairs. Corsairs went on 64,051 missions in the Pacific.

Land Based Beginnings

Even though the Corsair was designed to be a carrier based fighter it spent the first part of its combat life as a land based fighter. Many in the United States Navy felt it was unsuitable for carrier operations. In April 1944 the Corsair was finally cleared for carrier operation with the US fleet.

First Units

In October 1942 the VF-12 was the first to be outfitted with the F4U-1.

The US Marine Corps VMF-124, at Guadalcanal, was the first to use the Corsair in combat on February 13, 1943. This combat occurred over Bougainville.

In September 1943, the VF-17, land based, was United States Navy squadron equipped with the F4U.

Night Fighters

The XF4U-2 was used by the VFN-75 and VFN-101 as a night fighter late in the war.

United States

The United States' carriers first used the Corsair regularly in 1944 / January 1945.

Korean War Success

A Corsair night fighter pilot was the only one to become an ace during the Korean War that didn't fly a F-86 Sabre.

A Corsair pilot shot down a MiG-15 jet.

End of Service

The last Corsair to be withdrawn from active service was in 1965.

F4U-1

The F4U-1 Corsair was used by Britain, New Zealand, and the United States.

New Zealand

New Zealand used the 364 / 370 F4U-1As and F4U-1Ds primarily for close support.

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom flew the Corsair from their carriers for the first time in 1943.

The HMS Victorious first used the Corsair IIs in combat.

The No. 1834 Squadron first used the Corsair in combat in a mission against the Tirpitz on April 3, 1944.

How many received by Lend Lease:

Corsair Mk I (F4U-1): 95

Corsair Mk II (F4U-1A): 510

Corsair Mk III (F4U-1D, F3A-1): 430

Corsair Mk IV (FG-1): 977

Total: 2,012, 2,382

United States Carrier Operations

In January 1945 the first F4U-1Ds and FG-1Ds were used from American carriers.

F4U-4

The United States used the F4U-4 Corsair. Only a few were used against the Japanese. Deliveries started in October 1944.